Every year, on the Sunday closest to the Nativity of Christ, the Orthodox Church commemorates the holy Fathers of God: righteous Joseph the Betrothed, King David and James, brother of the Lord according to the flesh, the first archbishop of the Church of Jerusalem. On the day of remembrance of the Apostle James, this ancient, rarely performed liturgy was served in the church of the St. Ignatius monastery of the Novo-Tikhvin Convent in Yekaterinburg - for the first time in the history of the revived monastery, reports the Information Agency of the Yekaterinburg Diocese.
In the first years of Christianity, the liturgy was not performed according to an established pattern, but was the fruit of the prayerful fervor of the primate, who, in the words of Saint Justin, offered prayers and thanksgiving “as long as he could” and “as time allowed.” The early Christians had an abundance of grace-filled powers, and the liturgy lasted for many hours. Gradually, the acquired experience - the succession of prayers and sacred actions - was consolidated and formed into a stable order of worship. In this way, the rites of liturgies bearing the names of the apostles were formed: for example, the liturgy of the Apostle James, the Apostle Mark, the Antiochian liturgy of the 12 apostles and others.
The Liturgy of the Apostle James continues its church life today: until recent times, it was celebrated annually in the Jerusalem and Alexandria Churches. It is familiar to believers of the Russian Church Abroad. In 1970, the service of this liturgy, thanks to the zeal of Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov), was resumed within the walls of the Leningrad Theological Academy and was celebrated for a long time on the day of remembrance of the holy Apostle James.
In Yekaterinburg, Archbishop Melchizedek was the first to celebrate the Liturgy of the Apostle James on the day of his memory. Since 2001, in the Church of Cyril and Methodius at the Theological Seminary, with the blessing of the ruling bishop and rector of the seminary, Vladyka Vincent, the tradition of performing this ancient liturgy has been continued. Of course, the celebration of this Liturgy also has educational significance, but at the same time it is a tribute to the memory of those who stood at the origins of Christian worship, it is a living connection with them.
Therefore, the sisters of the monastery invited Hieromonk Arkady (Loginov), vice-rector for educational work at the Ekaterinburg Theological Seminary, teacher of liturgics, to serve the Liturgy of the Holy Apostle James at the monastery.
Much in the service seemed surprising. For example, the deacon’s address when pronouncing the litanies is not to the altar, but to those praying; reading books not only of the New, but also of the Old Testament; unfamiliar prayers, the unusual sound of well-known prayers and litanies: “Let us burn in mind and hearts” or “Back and back, and let us pray to the Lord unceasingly.”
This service, which preserved the structure of ancient liturgies, is somewhat different from the rites of later liturgies of the Byzantine type, which include the liturgies of Saints Basil the Great and John Chrysostom, which are familiar to us.
In the Liturgy of the Apostle James, the reading of Holy Scripture is performed in the center of the temple. Also special for this liturgy is the communion of those praying separately with the Body and separately with the Blood of Christ. This order was also typical for the Byzantine liturgies of Saints Basil the Great and John Chrysostom until the 8th century.
The expressiveness of the prayers of the liturgy of the Apostle James resurrects the living faith of the first Christians. Time seems to be turning back, and the appeals at the liturgy to the holy fathers of the ancient Church, almost contemporaries of this service, revive the feeling of closeness to them, unity with them in God: “Not because we are worthy to remember their bliss, but because we are facing a terrible and to Thy trembling throne of those who pray for our damnation."
It is quite possible that such a service in the days of memory of the Apostle James will become traditional for the Novo-Tikhvin Monastery.
On November 5, 2012, on the day of remembrance of the holy Apostle James, brother of the Lord, the first bishop of Jerusalem, the Liturgy of the Apostle James was celebrated in a number of churches of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The service in the house church was led by the rector of SPbDA.
In Moscow, the Liturgy of the Apostle James was celebrated in the house church in the former Diocesan House on Likhov Lane. The service was led by the rector of the university.
In Tomsk, he celebrated the Liturgy of the Apostle James at the Epiphany Cathedral, in Saratov at the Bishop's Compound in the church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Quiet My Sorrows” -.
This year, for the first time, the Liturgy of the Apostle James was celebrated in. Divine service in the Church of St. ap. Jacob in the city of Gubkin (Belgorod region) committed.
The rite of the Liturgy of the Apostle James originates in the Jerusalem Christian community, the first bishop of which was the Apostle James. Until the 9th century, the Liturgy of the Apostle James was served everywhere: in Palestine, Antioch, Cyprus, Southern Italy and on Holy Mount Sinai, but subsequently it was preserved only in the Church of Jerusalem and on the island of Zakynthos in Greece.
This service is somewhat different from the rites of the later Byzantine Liturgies of Basil the Great and John Chrysostom. For example, when pronouncing litanies, the deacon addresses not the altar, but the worshipers; The reading of the Holy Scriptures takes place in the center of the temple. A feature of this Liturgy is also the communion of those praying separately with the Body and separately with the Blood of Christ (this order was also characteristic of the Liturgies of Saints Basil the Great and John Chrysostom until the 8th century).
In Russia, until the 20th century, the Liturgy of the Apostle James was almost unknown. In 1970, the service of this Liturgy on the day of remembrance of the Apostle James was resumed in Leningrad theological schools with the blessing of the ever-memorable Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov) and is now celebrated in several dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church. In St. Petersburg theological schools, this practice was interrupted in the 1990s and was resumed in 2010.
Based on materials from the press service of SPbDA, the press service of PSTGU, websites of the Gubkin, Saratov and Tomsk dioceses
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The book regulating Orthodox worship is called the Typikon or Charter. It provides for the service of one of three liturgies - Basil the Great, John Chrysostom and the Presanctified Gifts. The Typikon determines which of them should be served on each day of the church year.
Let's start with simple, but important questions for eliminating catechetical illiteracy.
Question: What liturgy, according to the Typikon, is supposed to be served on the day of memory of St. Basil the Great?
Answer: Liturgy of Basil the Great.
Q: What liturgy should be served on the day of remembrance of St. John Chrysostom?
Q: What liturgy should be served on the day of remembrance of St. Gregory the Dvoeslov, author of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts?
The correct answer to this question will be somewhat more complicated.
A: Saint Gregory the Word is always honored during Great Lent. Therefore, if the holiday falls on Sunday, it is necessary to serve the Liturgy of Basil the Great; if on Saturday - the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom; if on Wednesday or Friday - the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. If the memory of St. Gregory the Dvoeslov falls on Monday, Tuesday or Thursday, then according to the Charter there is no provision for serving any liturgy.
Q: Does the Typikon allow for the possibility of influence on the choice of liturgy by local traditions or patronal feasts?
A: No, it does not allow it. The Typikon does not make the choice of liturgy dependent on local traditions.
The specifics of worship on patronal feast days are indicated in special “church chapters,” which provide for service according to the solemn rite “with vigil.” All these cases are regulated by the Typikon, and therefore they are not “exceptions” of any kind. Thus, if the patronal feast of Great Lent falls on Monday, Tuesday or Thursday, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts should be served.
Occasions such as the presence in the church of relics, as well as venerated icons of the Mother of God or the Saint, can be equated to a patronal celebration. But in any case, the service must be carried out according to the Charter.
Q: Does this mean that in all Orthodox churches, each specific holiday is supposed to serve the same liturgy?
A: Yes, exactly. And in this the liturgical unity of the Church is manifested. For example, Markov's chapters of the Typikon on the Feast of the Annunciation regulate the service of the Liturgy of Basil the Great on all Sundays of Great Lent (with the exception of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem), also on Holy Thursday and Holy Saturday. On all other days, the Charter appoints the service of the Liturgy of John Chrysostom for the Annunciation.
Q: Does the Typikon allow the replacement of one liturgy with another on the principle “if the abbot pleases”?
Oh no. This rule does not apply to the choice of the type of liturgy. The purpose of the liturgy is not determined by human arbitrariness. The Charter does not allow any substitution of one rite of the liturgy for another at the discretion of the rector.
In case of forced impossibility of serving, the liturgy may be canceled - but not replaced with another! This is stated in the Typikon in the section: “If there is some great need for the sake of the memory of the Holy great polyeleos, there will not be a Presanctified Liturgy” (February 24, 11th Mark chapter, 5th See). It is also noted in the section “On the Holy and Great Week of Easter” of chapter 50: “What if, due to need, there will be no liturgy” (1st Zri).
In some other issues, the Charter allows for different interpretations and alternatives. But the type of liturgy is clearly regulated by the current Typicon, leaving no freedom of choice for anyone: neither the rector of the church, nor the dean, nor the diocesan bishop have the power to arbitrarily change this requirement of the Church Charter. The Typikon's instructions on the choice of liturgy are mandatory for all parishes, monasteries and cathedrals, so everyone must obey them - from the Patriarch to the lay guide.
Q: Is it a canonical violation to serve the liturgy according to an erroneously chosen rite?
A: Of course, yes. The wrong choice of rite when serving the Divine Liturgy is considered a serious sin. It is comparable to similar canonical violations, such as if the performer of the liturgy were a person who does not have holy orders or is under a ban; or if instead of red grape wine, another liquid was poured into the Chalice (for example, berry juice or honey syrup); or if instead of wheat prosphora, another bread product would be used (for example, unleavened or barley bread); or if the “correct” liturgy was served on a day when its holding is prohibited by the Charter (for example, on Wednesday of Cheese Week or on the first Monday of Lent).
The transubstantiation of the Holy Gifts occurs, according to the faith of the Church of Christ, only at a correctly performed Eucharistic service. The grace of the Holy Spirit does not work where they deliberately commit a canonical crime. The sacrament is performed in the Church only under the condition of reverent observance of its canonical rules, and not where the liturgical Rule is violated. No one will force Orthodox people to believe that at the anti-statutory liturgy, bread and wine are transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ...
Of course, the Tradition of the Church contains examples of miraculous exceptions, when no human sins or canonical violations could prevent the performance of the sacrament. The Lord is able to impart grace to His faithful always and everywhere - both during persecution and in places of imprisonment. The Spirit who breathes where he wants (John 3:8), can, according to the faith of a righteous person, give him communion “not in judgment or condemnation” of the true Holy Gifts - even from the hand of the most illiterate and unworthy priest who serves “wrong” , “not then” and “not that”.
However, we should not forget the Gospel commandment: Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God (Matthew 7:4, see also Deut. 6:16)! The one who deliberately subverts the Charter of the Holy Orthodox Church angers God. He must bear personal responsibility before the Church Court.
When Archimandrite Zinon (Theodore) on August 15, 1996, at his own discretion, allowed the celebration of the Mass according to the Catholic rite in the Mirozhsky Monastery instead of serving the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom and he himself participated in it, he was banned from serving for this canonical crime by the ruling bishop Eusebius, Archbishop of Pskov.
Q: How should Orthodox people feel about celebrating the Liturgy according to an incorrectly chosen rite (if this suddenly happens)?
A: Clerics and laity who have the fear of God should wisely avoid participating in obviously anti-statutory liturgical actions, especially if they are presented under the guise of being “correct.” Otherwise, there is a high probability of becoming unwittingly guilty of blasphemy or other sins against the Holy Spirit.
Serving the “wrong” liturgy is comparable to such unacceptable actions as performing the sacrament of marriage over monks, or holding daily services with the Royal Doors closed on Easter Week, or serving the usual prayer service instead of the rite of the Great Blessing of the Water on Epiphany Eve. Grace is not given from God when committing such atrocities. Participation in them is a sin.
Q: What liturgy, according to the Typikon, should be served on the day of remembrance of the Holy Apostle James?
A: Liturgy of John Chrysostom.
Q: On what day in the circle of the church year, according to the current Charter of the Russian Orthodox Church, should the Liturgy of the Apostle James be served?
A: There is no such day in Monthly.
The Typikon does not provide for any “liturgy of the Apostle James.” The corresponding rite is not contained in any officially published priestly Service Book or in any bishop's Official. We find no indications of the service of such a “liturgy” either in the Menaion, or in the Octoechos, or in the Triodion.
In the centuries-old liturgical tradition of the Russian Church, there was no such liturgy at all until very recently. Therefore, serving the Liturgy of the Apostle James is an unconditional canonical violation.
II. Sanctus. The place of the liturgy of the Apostle James in the Orthodox liturgical tradition
Different church rituals were characteristic of different eras: some forms arose, others died out. Much has disappeared forever from Orthodox everyday life, while others have firmly entered into it. Therefore, it would be a big mistake to strive to artificially revive ancient customs that have sunk into oblivion. Thus, today it is not wise to abandon the practice of infant baptism. There is no need to imitate the early Christian systems of prolonged catechumen. It is impossible to return the institution of penitential discipline (crying, falling, listening, paying). There is no need to revive the Eucharistic “agapes”. It is absurd to advocate for the rite of separate communion for the laity (separately with the Body and separately with the Blood of Christ). All these forms look unnatural today.
The change of various anaphoras, or Eucharistic rites, is connected with the history of the Church of Christ and is an integral part of it.
Q: Has there always been a strictly established uniform order for the celebration of the Eucharist?
Oh no. In the early Christian era there were no strictly assigned ranks. The apostles performed the breaking of bread according to inspiration, and not “according to the written text.” In various cities, prayer rituals were gradually developed, noticeably different from one another. The vast majority of them are apparently lost forever.
The former anaphoras were subsequently replaced by others - recognized by the Church as more perfect.
Apart from anaphoras, in the first centuries much else related to liturgy had not yet been formed. For example, the Orthodox Creed is common to all. The canon of biblical books accepted today and the calendar order of the Gospel readings were not immediately approved. The altar with church utensils (vessels, censer and everything else) was not properly equipped. The iconostasis with the Royal Doors and the Veil, as well as a number of other elements of decoration that had become familiar and obligatory, had not yet been completed.
Q: When was the unified Orthodox liturgical canon formed?
A: Since the 4th century, a purposeful process of unification of all church life began in the Byzantine Empire. Work was underway to formulate doctrinal truths and canonical rules, to develop an annual cycle of fasts and holidays. Thus, at the First Ecumenical Council the issue of calendar discrepancies in the celebration of Easter was resolved. At the same time, a single Creed for all Christians was adopted (finally edited at the Second Ecumenical Council). The composition of the Old and New Testaments was approved.
At the same time, a pan-Orthodox liturgical tradition was created. Since Christianity became the faith of many peoples belonging to the great Empire, the need arose to draw up such a Eucharistic rite that would allow the episcopate and believers of the entire Universe - that is, the entire Orthodox world - to unite in conciliar prayer. God inspired selected Saints to carry out this work.
Through the works of St. Basil the Great, in the middle of the 4th century, the liturgy adopted in Caesarea in Cappadocia was compiled. He managed to bring the rites of the local Cappadocian anaphora to grace and divine perfection. At the end of the 4th century, St. John Chrysostom did the same work, crowning with his Eucharistic masterpiece all the Antiochian liturgies that preceded him. Probably, in that era, some other hierarchs were engaged in similar work (for example, Bishop Ambrose of Milan). But the Church singled out these two great ecumenical teachers as exemplary liturgists. Their spiritual heritage, sometimes called “Byzantine liturgies,” according to the Providence of God, entered the canon and by the end of the era of the Ecumenical Councils was accepted throughout the Orthodox East. This objective historical process was reflected in the ancient Typicons.
Q: What happened to the other numerous liturgical successions (except the Byzantine liturgies)?
A: Over the course of several centuries, all local anaphoras were supplanted by Byzantine liturgies and were gradually forgotten. In some places they existed as a relic for a short time after the 4th century, but not one of them entered the Orthodox liturgical canon.
It is for this reason that Saints Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius did not consider it necessary to translate any of them into Church Slavonic, except for the liturgies of Basil the Great and John Chrysostom.
Q: Is the text of the so-called “Liturgy of the Apostle James” a historical monument of the 1st (apostolic) century?
A: Absolutely not. The text of the Eucharist, known by this name and existing in several different Syriac and Greek versions that have come down to us, was probably formed in the same 4th century on the basis of older Eucharistic rites that have not come down to us.
Tradition attributes its authorship to the first bishop of the Mother of Churches, James, the brother of the Lord, whom the Apostle Paul mentioned (Gal. 1:19). However, we should not forget that all the time from the destruction of Jerusalem in the 1st century by the troops of Emperor Titus until its restoration (with all the lost Shrines) in the 4th century, under the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Emperor Constantine the Great, neither the city itself nor even its name existed: at the beginning of the 2nd century it was renamed “Eliy-Adrian” and turned into a pagan temple. Until the 4th century, there was no local “Jerusalem Church” with its special “apostolic” tradition - otherwise in the diptych of Churches it would not have been in fifth place after the Roman, Constantinople, Alexandria and Antioch.
The name of Saint James of Jerusalem is, rather, not an indication of historical authorship, but a symbol of the apostolic origin of the Eucharist.
Q: Is the widespread opinion true that the liturgy of Basil the Great is supposedly an “abbreviated” edited version of the liturgy of the Apostle James (and, accordingly, the liturgy of John Chrysostom is an even more “abbreviated” version of the liturgy of Basil the Great)?
Oh no. This fiction has no historical basis. The structures of the anaphoras of the “apostolic” and Byzantine liturgies are so different that they do not allow us to seriously talk about their real textual “continuity”.
Rather, one can assert the presence of the opposite influence: the Greek version of the liturgy of the Apostle James itself borrowed some prayers and chants from the Byzantine liturgies, that is, it underwent a noticeable influence on their part (specific examples are presented below).
Q: Was not the liturgy of the Apostle James widespread in heretical communities outside the Catholic Church?
A: Yes, it was and remains. The formation of their own liturgical tradition, in parallel with Byzantium, took place in those local churches that, during the era of the Ecumenical Councils, separated from Catholic Orthodoxy. In particular, this liturgy took root among the Copts, Syro-Jacobites and other Monophysites. Dozens of different Syriac editions of it are known, dating after the Council of Chalcedon.
Among the heretics - Nestorians and Monophysites - the process of forming their liturgical canon proceeded independently and independently. At the same time, they always insisted on the apostolic antiquity of their liturgical tradition. It is noteworthy that both of them attribute their own Eucharistic tradition specifically to the liturgy of the Apostle James (perhaps, under the influence of these claims, a version of its “apostolic” origin arose?..).
It is not surprising that the liturgy of the Apostle James found a home in heterodox communities. Similarly, in the biblical “canon” of some ancient churches (Ethiopian, Coptic) apocryphal books were preserved. It is also true that among the Arian and Manichean people, for several centuries after the First Ecumenical Council, creeds other than the Nicene were used.
Q: Has the liturgy of the Apostle James been influenced over the centuries by non-Chalcedonian churches?
A: Yes, such influence was inevitable. This liturgy has firmly entered into use outside the borders of canonical Orthodoxy, where its formation took place. As noted in the magazine “Holy Land,” she still serves there “with some non-Orthodox changes.” This question could become the topic of a separate theological study.
The following assumption is likely about the preservation of the liturgy of the Apostle James in the Orthodox tradition. The Greeks, naturally, did not want to hand over the only Eucharist, which had the reputation of being “apostolic,” to heretics. Therefore, it was preserved in Jerusalem - along with many other unique local features (such as the Church of the Holy Sepulcher). This was necessary in order to emphasize the apostolic succession of the Catholic tradition.
Another way to establish the evangelical authority of the Orthodox liturgical Tradition in the “competitive struggle” with heretics was, as in the troparion to the Three Hierarchs, to compare the Byzantine liturgists with the disciples of Christ: “As the apostles are equal and the universal teacher...”. The custom arose of depicting the face of the Holy Apostle James on altar frescoes, along with Saints Basil the Great, John Chrysostom and Gregory the Dvoeslov.
Q: What place did the liturgy of the Apostle James occupy in the Orthodox tradition in the 1st millennium AD?
A: Before the 4th century, there is no reliable information about this liturgy.
After the 5th century, it, along with the liturgies of Basil the Great and John Chrysostom, was preserved as a local Jerusalem rite.
In other provinces of the Roman Empire it never became widespread, remaining, with rare exceptions, a purely Palestinian exotic phenomenon. But even in the Holy Land it was served only once a year, and therefore was not considered statutory and normative, equal in importance to the Byzantine liturgies.
By the 10th century, even in Jerusalem, her ministry had practically ceased.
Q: Was the liturgy of the Apostle James known in Rus'?
A: No, never. By the time of the reign of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir, the Byzantine canon had already been fully formed. The Liturgy of the Apostle James was not included in this canon. Until the 20th century (!) it was not even translated into Church Slavonic, and therefore it was not served by the Slavs either on the Balkan Peninsula or in Rus'. There is no mention of it in any Typikon.
On the contrary, the liturgies of Basil the Great and John Chrysostom were established both in the Russian Church and throughout the Orthodox world. They are included as an integral part in all Typicons and, in the proper sense of the word, have become an expression of the church's liturgical tradition.
Q: Was the Liturgy of the Apostle James served in the Greek churches in the 2nd millennium after the Nativity of Christ?
Oh no. By the beginning of the second millennium, the Liturgy of the Apostle James in the Orthodox world (unlike the non-Chalcedonian churches) ceased to be served. As noted in her rite, “in this way the tradition of this divine service was extinguished.” Until the middle of the 19th century, her ministry was not resumed.
The Greeks themselves remembered this rite only a thousand years later, when the reformatory revival of their church life, which had fallen into serious decline during the long reign of the Turkish Sultan in the Balkans and Asia Minor, began.
Q: What was the reason in the 19th century for remembering a long-forgotten liturgical rite?
A: Renovation Reformation in the Church of Constantinople.
It began in 1838, when a new Typikon was drawn up. As noted by M.N. Skaballanovich, “The Greek Church now uses for cathedral and parish churches not the Jerusalem Typikon, but a special one.” It is noteworthy that for monasteries this “Charter” “recognizes the right to be guided by previous Charters.” True, the bad example turned out to be contagious, and “even in the Palestinian Lavra of St. Savvas, from where our current Typikon came out, are now guided by this Constantinople edition of the Typikon” [ibid.]. The new modernized “Typikon” abolished the hours, shortened Matins and other rites of the daily cycle. The liturgical reformation of the Greek Church shook the traditional foundations of Orthodoxy and legitimized those numerous distortions in liturgical practice that “due to weakness” took place in everyday life.
The Greek reformers (just like the Russian renovationists half a century later) experienced ferment and spontaneous creativity in the spirit of an imaginary “revival” of church life. Against the backdrop of this enthusiasm, in the 19th century a “tradition” arose to serve the Liturgy of the Apostle James in Jerusalem.
A similar “tradition” appeared at the same time on the Greek island of Zakynthos on the initiative of the modernist archbishop Dionysius II Latas († 1894), who was inspired by the reformist idea of serving a long-vanished liturgy and arbitrarily revived the forgotten ancient worship in his island diocese.
Similar attempts were made in some other places, but, in general, they remained a rare and rather marginal phenomenon.
The sketch made by the translator Gardner, who was then in the rank of hieromonk, is quite consistent with the end of the 19th century (see below for more details): “In Jerusalem, once a year, on October 23, on the day of remembrance of the holy Apostle James, brother of the Lord, the Divine Liturgy of the holy Apostle is celebrated Jacob".
However, in the 20th century the situation changed. In 1937, when these words were written, they were already very far from the historical truth.
Q: Did the “tradition” of serving the Liturgy of the Apostle James take root in Jerusalem by the beginning of the 20th century?
Oh no. Soon there was no one to support the new initiative. In the 20th century, the Liturgy of the Apostle James was not celebrated in Jerusalem for many years.
Let us present evidence from the journal of the Russian Church Abroad for 1936, which describes the first celebration of this liturgy by His Beatitude Patriarch Timothy of Jerusalem: “The last time this liturgy was celebrated in Jerusalem 35 years ago, and if His Beatitude the Patriarch had not restored its celebration, there would have been danger that the tradition of how to perform it will be forgotten and cease.”
This exotic liturgy looked less like a prayer rite and more like a spectacle for the curious or like a museum performance in the style of a church retro performance. Two presbyters and four deacons took part in the ceremony. The Patriarch served without the Cross, Panagia and Miter. Many spectators gathered to look at the outlandish rite.
Among those present was Hieromonk Philip (Gardner). Having once attended an unusual service, he was inspired by the idea of translating it into Church Slavonic.
Regarding the Liturgy of the Apostle James, it can be summarized that in the Orthodox Greek tradition it was not served in all centuries, and not more than once a year. An exception is the island of Zakynthos, where, by the will of Archbishop Dionysius II, this rite was carried out at the end of the 19th century, contrary to the Charter and custom, without measure and reason.
There is every reason to speak not about “tradition” or “apostolic tradition,” but about the artificial implantation of this rite in the 19th–20th centuries. The observed excitement around the ancient rite can be compared with a similar unhealthy interest in the apocrypha (such as the sensational “Gospel of Judas”) and other sources of non-canonical origin.
It is necessary to recognize the action of God's Providence in the fact that some rites sometimes give way to others and find themselves outside the boundaries of living Church Tradition. It may be advisable to study ancient creeds, apocryphal treatises and former anaphoras in seminaries for better assimilation of academic special courses in church archeology, liturgics, dogmatics and other disciplines. But serving according to outdated rites is just as unacceptable as reading non-canonical texts instead of the Holy Scriptures or professing the pre-Nicene creeds. Reformers usually don't understand this.
The unique rite of the liturgy of the Apostle James can be at least somehow justified for the only city - Jerusalem. The exclusivity of the rite allows us to compare it not with ordinary liturgies, which are served everywhere and always, but with such unique rites as the rite of “Procession on the Donkey” on Palm Sunday (for which a King is needed) or the rite of “Washing the Feet” on Holy Thursday (for which need a Patriarch), or the rite of the “Holy Light” on Holy Saturday (better known as the rite of the Holy Fire, which is held in the Edicule of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher).
It was not the liturgy of the name of His elder brother Jacob that the Lord had in mind in his conversation with the Samaritan woman, when he foreshadowed to her: Believe me, the time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem (John 4:21). In order to serve the Liturgy of the Apostle James, the holy city of Jerusalem is needed.
III. Anamnesis. On the translation of the Liturgy of the Apostle James into Church Slavonic and its first services
As noted above, the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles brothers Cyril and Methodius did not translate the rites of the Liturgy of the Apostle James into Church Slavonic. Accordingly, neither in the pre-Mongol, nor in the Moscow, nor in the synodal periods of Russian history, no one served this liturgy in our country.
Q: Did Russian theologians have any experience of translating the liturgy of the Apostle James into Church Slavonic before 1917?
Oh no. There was no liturgical translation of this “apostolic” liturgy. As unnecessary.
The text of the ancient order of rites to the professors of the Russian pre-revolutionary academic school, of course, was quite well known (in various editions in both Greek and Syriac). However, apparently, they were clearly aware of the depravity of the idea of reviving the prayerful liturgical practice from manuscripts and archaeological monuments.
Q: Were similar attempts made in the Russian Orthodox Church after 1917?
Oh no. Neither Saint Tikhon, nor his successors, the Most Holy Patriarchs, blessed in our Church the official publication of the liturgical translation of the liturgy of the Apostle James.
In the Renovationist schism of 1920–1930, as far as we know, no effort was made to translate this liturgy. The Living Church members were content with altering the familiar liturgical rites of Basil the Great and John Chrysostom, translating them into Russian and Ukrainian and introducing numerous other distortions. Neither Vvedensky, nor Granovsky, nor Adamenko, nor other renovationist leaders got around to serving the Liturgy of the Apostle James.
The situation in Russian emigrant circles was different.
Q: Who and when was the first translation of the liturgy of the Apostle James into Church Slavonic?
A: The text of the Liturgy of the Apostle James was translated from Greek by the ROCOR cleric Hieromonk Philip (Gardner) and published in pre-revolutionary Russian orthography on February 10, 1937 in Jerusalem. A year later, on July 27, 1938, he himself, but already in the rank of abbot, published the second edition of this liturgy, printed in Church Slavonic script “in Vladimirova in Pryashevskaya Rus” (Carpatho-Rus').
As the translator noted, he was the first compiler of this service in Church Slavonic: “For the Russian Church does not know this service, it is lower than the other Churches of the Slovenian peoples.” Thus, neither in the Serbian, nor in the Bulgarian local Churches, nor on Mount Athos, this liturgy had never been served in Church Slavonic before.
Q: When and who was the first to celebrate the Liturgy of the Apostle James in Church Slavonic?
A: This liturgy was first held in the Russian Church of the Life-Giving Trinity in Serbia, in Belgrade on January 18, 1938 - that is, six months before the publication of its Slavic text. It is somewhat strange that the chosen day has nothing to do with the memory of Saint James of Jerusalem, but for some reason coincided with the day of remembrance of Saints Athanasius and Cyril, the Patriarchs of Alexandria.
The celebrant of the liturgy was the same initiator: “To the liturgical priest Philip (Gardner), to whom this liturgy was translated from Greek into Slovenian.” One protodeacon participated in the concelebration.
Four bishops of the ROCOR, led by Metropolitan Anastasius (Gribanovsky), were invited to this liturgy, but they did not take any part in the service, but are mentioned only as “those present” [ibid.].
This new-fashioned liturgy was clearly not popular among the Russian people “in the diaspora,” since it did not in the slightest connect the emigrants either with the Fatherland or with their native Orthodox church tradition.
Q: How did the further church career of the translator of the liturgy of the Apostle James into Church Slavonic and its first minister develop?
A: On June 14, 1942, in Berlin, during the height of the Great Patriotic War, the consecration of Abbot Philip (Gardner) as Bishop of Potsdam, vicar of the Berlin and German Diocese of the ROCOR took place.
The further zigzag of fate turned out to be like this. Two years later, Gardner resigned his monastic and episcopal ranks... and got married. In 1944, he was dismissed from his position as Berlin vicar and rector of the Cathedral of the Resurrection in the German capital. After 6 years, he was officially deprived of his episcopate by the Synod of the ROCOR.
It is not our place to judge other people's slaves (Rom. 14:4). But how can one not remember in connection with this inglorious story that shortly before he renounced his monastic vows and finally took off the Panagia and the Cross, “Higumen Philip” for the first time took off the Cross for the sake of serving the non-statutory liturgy? After all, the condition “not to lay” the Cross on oneself by his hand is written as a mandatory requirement for all priests who begin serving the Liturgy of the Apostle James: “In the same way, one does not lay the Cross on oneself.” Spiritual fornication and rejection of the Cross of Christ led Gardner, in a matter of years, to carnal fornication and betrayal of church pastoral service.
Let us note in this regard one undoubted superiority of the Slavic text of the Byzantine liturgies over the Slavic version of the liturgy of the Apostle James. The translation of the liturgies of Basil the Great and John Chrysostom was made for us by God-inspired men - Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius. The important thing is that we, the Slavs, accepted the liturgical heritage of the ancient teachers of the Church as Sacred Tradition from the hands of the Saints.
In contrast, the “Liturgy of the Apostle James” was translated into the Slavic language by Gardner, who was driven by dubious motives and did not remain faithful to his pastoral service in the Church. The current initiators of introducing this rite into use in the Russian Church should think hard: is it worth so trustingly accepting spiritual food from the hands of such a “mentor” (compare: Heb. 13:7)?
Q: Are there other editions of the rite of the liturgy of the Apostle James in Church Slavonic known in the 20th century?
A: Yes, the third edition, identical to the second, was published in 1970 in Rome.
Q: When and who first served the Liturgy of the Apostle James in Russia?
A: The beginning of the service of this liturgy in Russia is directly connected with the mentioned Roman publication, and this is a very remarkable story.
In this city, more precisely in the Vatican, the chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov) of Leningrad and Ladoga, often visited this city as part of his official duties. Soon after the Roman publication of the Liturgy of the Apostle James, he initiated its annual service at the Leningrad Theological Seminary and Academy. This innovation continued until the death of the bishop, which followed in 1978 in Rome, and stopped immediately after his death.
Thus, through the emigrant Abroad and the Catholic West, which had been cut off from its native soil, the rite of the liturgy of the Apostle James penetrated into the bosom of our Church for the first time in history. As a result, this strange liturgy was held several times on Russian soil.
Under His Holiness Patriarchs Pimen and Alexy II, the service of this extravagant liturgy was not resumed in any diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church.
According to the website of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, on November 4, 2016, on the eve of the memory of the holy Apostle James, brother of the Lord, in the academic church of the Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, the rector of the St. Petersburg Orthodox Theological Academy, Archbishop of Peterhof Ambrose (Ermakov) again celebrated the “liturgy according to the order” Apostle James, brother of the Lord."
The “Liturgy of the Apostle James” differs from the liturgies of the Byzantine type - St. Basil the Great and St. John Chrysostom. The difference between this “liturgy” is that most of the secret prayers are read aloud, and not in a whisper or silently, as in the Liturgies of St. John Chrysostom, St. Basil the Great and the Presanctified Gifts. Litanys and Holy Scripture are read by the deacons facing the people, and not the altar. In addition to the Apostle and the Gospel, the Old Testament is read. At this “liturgy” it is not necessary to perform the Proskomedia, since this is a later custom, and if the Proskomedia is not performed, then the 3rd and 6th hours are not read. The priests perform the Liturgy of the Apostle James without pectoral crosses.
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in the photo: on the left - communion at the Liturgy of St. James, on the right - communion at a Catholic mass
In the 70-80s of the 20th century, at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, a similar practice of serving the “liturgy of the Apostle James” arose on the initiative of the modernist metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov), but in the 1990s the celebration of this liturgy ceased. For the first time after a many-year break, on November 5, 2010, in the academic church in honor of the holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, “liturgy according to the rite of the Apostle James, brother of the Lord,” was celebrated Bishop of Gatchina Ambrose (Ermakov). Since then, the service of this “liturgy” within the walls of SPbPDA has been held annually.
Such annual celebration of the “Liturgy of the Apostle James” has become a kind of “renovationist tradition.” First of all, it should be said that this order of the liturgy is not in the Typikon, and therefore is non-statutory. Translations of the “Liturgy of the Apostle James” into Russian were made in the 19th century, but were not of a liturgical nature, and the “Liturgy of the Apostle James” was not used in the Russian Orthodox Church.
The Russian Orthodox Church performs divine services in accordance with the current liturgical regulations set out in the Typikon, which strictly outlines which liturgies should be performed on which days. The Typikon does not provide for the celebration of the “Liturgy of the Apostle James”. The fact that the practice of celebrating the non-statutory “Liturgy of the Apostle James” arose on the initiative of Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov), does not yet provide grounds for repeating such liturgical innovations and is a daring violation of church regulations and a manifestation of church modernism. The goal of such liturgical renovationist experiments, in our opinion, is to consolidate in the minds of believers the possibility of variability in statutory regulations and changeability of liturgical traditions, and thereby church tradition. Under the slogan of “a return to the practice of the Ancient Church,” a liberal revision and reformation of the liturgical traditions of the Russian Church is proposed within the walls of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy. Let us recall that calls for a return to the practices of the Ancient Church have always been on the banners of all Protestant movements (Luther and others), and more recently also of the Renovationists.
In order not to indulge the spread of vicious renovationist liturgical practice under the guise of the anti-canonical “liturgy of the Apostle James,” we can recommend that Orthodox believers refrain from visiting churches where such liturgical modernist experiments are carried out.
There is no need to wait or look for miracles. There is only one miracle
which is always with us. This is the Divine Liturgy.
Venerable Nectarius of Optina
The Divine Liturgy is a divine service around which all prayers and rites of the Orthodox Church are concentrated. Currently, three types of Liturgy are celebrated: the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great and the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts of St. Gregory the Dvoeslov. However, from the first half of the 20th century, the little-known, ancient Liturgy of the Holy Apostle James began to enter liturgical practice again. This is the treasure of the ancient Church that has come down to us through millennia, born in its cradle - the Jerusalem Christian primitive community.
Jerusalem origins
This Divine Liturgy of the holy glorious Apostle James, brother of God and first bishop of Jerusalem, is received from the holy Orthodox Church of Jerusalem...
In the early years of Christianity there was no established pattern for worship. In each Christian community, the Liturgy was celebrated with its own characteristics. Gradually, the experience of performing prayers was consolidated and the liturgical order was formed. Thus, the rites of Liturgies that bore the names of the apostles were formed and “crystallized”: for example, the Antiochian Liturgy of the 12 Apostles, the Liturgy of the Apostle Mark and the Liturgy of the Apostle James.
Saint James, the compiler of the liturgical order, which will be discussed below, was the son of Joseph the Betrothed from his first wife, and therefore in the Gospel he is called the brother of the Lord. According to Tradition, the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to him after His Resurrection and appointed him bishop of the Jerusalem Church. Thus, the Apostle James had a special activity: he did not travel preaching to different countries, like the other apostles, but taught and officiated in Jerusalem, a city of very important importance for the Christian world. He ended his life around the year 64 with martyrdom: the Jewish leaders threw him from the portico of the Jerusalem temple.
It is to the Apostle James, the brother of the Lord, that Tradition ascribes the composition of the ancient rite of the Divine Liturgy, which in the first centuries of Christianity, up to the 9th century, was extremely widespread: the Liturgy of the Apostle James was celebrated in Palestine, Antioch, Cyprus, Southern Italy and St. Mount Sinai. However, starting from the 9th century, it was almost everywhere replaced by the Liturgies of Saints Basil the Great and John Chrysostom, more solemn and in tune with the pomp of the imperial services of Constantinople. That is why it remained unknown to the Slavs, who received divine services from their enlighteners in a purely “Constantinopolitan” form. The only two places on earth where this liturgical pearl was carefully preserved for almost the entire second millennium were the Church of Jerusalem and the island of Zakynthos in Greece, where the Liturgy of the Holy Apostle James was constantly celebrated all these centuries (in Jerusalem - three times a year, on the days of memory of the saint the Apostle James, the Relatives of the Lord and the 70 Apostles, and on Zakynthos - at any time of the year, at the request of the abbot).
In the Russian Church
For the Russian Church did not know this service, lower than the other Churches of the Slovenian peoples: it received the liturgical rite from the royal city of Constantinople...
In Russia, until the 20th century, this Liturgy was almost unknown. Only in 1938, in the Russian diaspora, Abbot Philip (Gardner), with the blessing of Metropolitan Anastasius of Chisinau and Khotyn, prepared its liturgical translation, as well as hymns in Church Slavonic. For the first time in translated form, this Liturgy was celebrated in Belgrade. It is noteworthy during what a difficult period for the Russian Church the Liturgy of the Apostle James began to be celebrated. These are the amazing lines filled with pain and hope that we find in the afterword to the Church Slavonic translation: “We imagine that in our sorrowful days, when the Russian Church finds itself in persecution and dispersion, this Liturgy is very fitting: many times we pray in it for the hedgehog in persecution, in captivity, in hard work and in the many different sorrows of existence, the essence of these prayers is great, touching and extensive, which the ancient Christians uttered, when they endured persecution and sorrow for their faith.”
From that time on, the revival of this rare rite began: first in Russian churches abroad, then in the 70s and 80s at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, where a similar practice arose on the initiative of the outstanding hierarch of the 20th century, Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov). For a long time, the Liturgy of the Apostle James was an integral part of the liturgical life of the theological school, but in the 90s the celebration of this Liturgy ceased.
Since 2002, with the blessing of His Eminence Theophan, Archbishop of Berlin and Germany, the Liturgy of the Holy Apostle James has been regularly celebrated in the church in the name of the Holy Archangel of God Michael in the city of Göttingen. Over time, it became clear that this pearl needed a new musical “frame.” Therefore, based on the ancient chants, which with their purity and transparency are surprisingly suitable for its strict style, new music was written for this Liturgy, which His Eminence Archbishop Theophan blessed on November 5, 2005 for liturgical singing in the Berlin diocese.
Currently, the Liturgy of the Apostle James is celebrated, as a rule, in cathedrals and monasteries of some dioceses. For example, in the Tomsk and Yekaterinburg dioceses, in St. Nicholas Cathedral in New York and in other places.
Unusual rank
...It is not common in our days to eat calico...
The afterword to the Church Slavonic translation of the Liturgy of the Holy Apostle James says: “Be aware that this rite has changed little since the days of the apostles. Our holy fathers established that certain songs should be sung, which did not exist in the days of the apostle saints, that is, the Only Begotten Son, the Trisagion, the same Symbol of the Orthodox Faith, and others. These are our God-bearing fathers who taught Christians the faith for the sake of it.”
This rank has a number of significant features. For example, when the Liturgy of the Apostle James is celebrated by the Bishop, he dresses not in the sakkos, but in the presbyteral (priestly) phelonion. Subdeacons do not participate in divine services. Consequently, the dikiriy and trikiriy, as well as the orlets - integral attributes of the Bishop's service - are not used, and the bishop's staff is not tied with a cloth (sulkom).
The deacons proclaim litanies, facing the people, to the west. The Holy Scriptures, even not during the Hierarchal service, are read in the middle of the church, also facing west. After the reading of the Gospel, the sermon immediately follows. During the Great Entrance, instead of the usual chant " Like the Cherubim secretly forming..." is sung " Let all human flesh be silent and let it stand with fear and trembling...» The great entrance takes place through the entire temple.
Another feature of this Liturgy is that not only the clergy, but also the laity partake separately of the Body and separately of the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It happens like this: the Bishop (or priest) comes from the altar to the pulpit, holding the paten with the Body of Christ in his hands, the deacon brings out the chalice with the Holy Blood. “And if they are lay people receiving communion, they come with humility to the Bishop (or priest), and he, holding in his shuitz (left hand) Auto.) paten with Holy Bread, says: Body of Christ. And he answers: Amen. And the Bishop (or priest) puts part of the Holy Bread into his mouth, and he eats it and comes to the deacon, and the deacon says: Blood of Christ, Cup of Life. And he answers: Amen. And the deacon gives him a little drink from the cup. And people take communion...
... And the people depart in peace to their homes, the priests put on their holy garments, and the deacon does the same, having consumed the saint, and they go to their homes, thanking God.”
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